


the world as it is (not as we'd like it to be)

by Zoanzon



Series: Fragments of Larger Worlds [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (among fixing other problems in the movie that they hoped we'd ignore), Gen, No proofreading we die like mne, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Sokovia Accords, and then he says /why/, essentially just Fury monologging to the UN (and maybe) cameras about his views on the Accords, fragment of a larger work, that is: they need a SHIELD-variant of their own
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 23:56:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17632190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoanzon/pseuds/Zoanzon
Summary: In one world, Lagos goes wrong and the Avengers have a document - apparently agreed upon by over a hundred nations - dropped in front of them, with seemingly no media coverage over the document's creations, and all nations apparently fine with an American war-dog in charge of enforcing the Accords.In another world, things are actually a bit more realistic, and one of these things is an old spy sees UN's attempts to create an Accords regarding superpowered beings on the news, and slinks out of the shadows to tell them some things he learned the hard way about what their drafts are missing.(Or: Nick Fury has many regrets, including the truth of what SHIELD was unwittingly holding, but that doesn't mean he thinks the agency's intent in handling superpowered forces was wrong. With that in mind, he finds the UN's plans lacking, and decides to tell them so.)





	the world as it is (not as we'd like it to be)

**Author's Note:**

> So, I have issues with Civil War. These are...many in number, but one (group) of problems is with some of the fundamental parts of how they present the Accords to us: that is,
> 
> * these documents have apparently been designed in a way that kept them out of public view enough that none of the Avengers except Tony knew of them (or none of the others ever watch the news);
> 
> * they seemingly have mad-dog Thunderbolt Ross appointed by the UN to enforce them (and he's acting American Sec of State, which is a massive case of conflict that wouldn't ever happen in real life);
> 
> * and the Accords don't show or tell us what the hell is supposed to happen in cases of people newly gaining powers. The whole "you sign or you retire" tells us some, and Agents of SHIELD fills in some gaps on how MCU tried to run things, but that just felt like they tried to cram the Mutant and Superhuman Registration Acts together and ignored that the political and societal conditions are different (and, in this case, international rather than American-only).
> 
> I, something of a 'your surface worldbuilding has unrealistic implications if we look deeper at it' snob, find all of that kinda stupid, and in the larger 'verse this snippet sits in, am fixing that. More of a fight over what the Accords are, this stuff is public and publicly debated about in news...and some people chime in about what the Accords try to enforce (and what they're lacking).

“Whether SHIELD was right to mess with the Tesseract was right or not could be debated ad infinitum, and I’m sure you all won’t fail to do so. Thor, not long before the Chitauri Invasion of New York, told me that Earth tampering with the Tesseract opened us to a higher form of war. Imagine your common third world country suddenly starting nuclear tests; that is what our actions were to the wider universe.”

Fury paused, and looked around, his eye staring steadily into the gaze of anyone who met it.

“Yet, as I stated then and still state now, humanity was hopelessly, _hilariously_ outclassed. The incident with the Hulk at Culver University and soon after in Harlem, the the arrival of Asgardians in New Mexico, and the mess that was the 2011 Stark Expo with Ivan Vanko, all happened within the same _week_. SHIELD had dealt with the weird and the unexplainable for decades, but ever since Stark proved to the world that weaponizable power suits were within reach, SHIELD’s ability to keep the weirdness hidden and contained failed faster and faster.

Tony grimaced, but was kept from ruminating on Fury's words considering he knew what the man was about to say next. 

“The Accords are, in concept, a good idea; whether I agree with the _current form_ the drafts are taking or not, a way to standardize information regarding people who put on costumes to fight crime is a good idea, if nothing else than so they know how to identify one another as allies instead of enemies. But what is also needed is something to take SHIELD’s place.”

The room erupted in murmurs, but a sharp whistle and a glare from Fury quieted them, to which Tony had to give grudging respect to have the balls to do that to the UN. After a moment, Fury continued.

“From New York to Greenwich, Johannesburg to Sokovia, issues of conflict with superpowered beings is not going to stop; and with the explosion in population of the empowered humans - _charmingly_ dubbed ‘Inhumans’ by someone - across the world, it is safe to say that superpowered beings are not going to stop existing.

“Even now, Earth is getting weirder by the year. Hell, it’s getting weirder by the day, and more and more it seems like this is not so much new weirdness as stuff buried or hidden away springing forth. For better or worse, we’re living an age of Marvels. Whether you’re happy with this, or outraged, fearful, or just uncaring, you can’t deny this. And whether you agreed with or disagreed with SHIELD’s methods, and I am talking about SHIELD working with superpowered phenomena and not the role in unknowingly incubating HYDRA, you can’t deny that incidents have spiked since SHIELD fell. The Avengers exist, and regional and national responses do exist in their own forms across the world, but there is no overarching group to deal with the weirdness any more, and it’s showing. The Avengers can't be everywhere, and often countries don't know how to prepare for what they're facing.

“The Accords will help in unifying command for teams like the Avengers, for helping coordinate responses to repeats of New York or Johannesburg or Sokovia, but they won’t stop them. This could be because powered individuals fight the concept of being forced to register like some drafts currently wish to enforce, and they fight back; this could be because we face another Loki, or the superpowered equivalent to a serial killer, or some individual who sees their powers as a way to finally get back at the world which pushed them around, but they will come eventually.”

Fury sighed, and lost some of his sharpness. Suddenly, Tony could see the lines in his face, the years on the man.

“And they will come…and so will the cases of someone gaining powers and not knowing how to handle them. The cases of the superpowered serial killer needing to be hunted by people with understanding in responding to powers, but also the training to profile and track them. The cases where the person fighting back against the world needs someone who can come to them, and talk them off a ledge.”

Fury paused, then gave a wry smile.

“The world needs groups and people like the Avengers, who can hold their own again things that would otherwise destroy our world or society as we know it…to fight the battles we never could. But the world also needs a bridge, to connect the normal and the weird. To show the two they can co-exist, and to try and prevent these fights from occurring. Right now, there’s no room for that in the Accords. That needs to change.”

**Author's Note:**

> The name might be recognizable as coming from Fury and Steve's dialogue in CA:TWS, Fury stating, _"S.H.I.E.L.D. takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. And it's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."_ Though not in the best of contexts, being part of his defense of Project Insight, I feel this works rather well not only with Fury and his view on SHIELD's actions - dirty or otherwise - in keeping the world safe, and in the idea of what he's doing in-fic before the UN.
> 
> Also, the line regarding the world needing 'a bridge, to connect the normal and the weird' is inspired by MCU/Ben 10 fic 'Dial', over on Spacebattles. Other lines, probably recognizable, are call-backs to things said in prior movies, and I won't bother listing all of them at this time.


End file.
